May St. George and indeed St. Edmund and Our Lady of Walsingham save and protect England, this small precious portion of the Earth’s surface: much misunderstood, much maligned, much afflicted in various ways, but still the home of many people of good will, and still to be honoured, cherished and defended.
The Fantasy in E Major by Harold Darke (1888–1976) in an arrangement for strings by C. Jenkins, accompanied by a sequence of paintings by James Lynch (b. 1956) mainly of scenes in Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Many thanks to YouTube user David Harris for putting the two together.
Belated Happy St. George's Day!
ReplyDeleteHopefully you marked it with a visit to one of the many pubs named after his famous encounter with the dragon!
Well I did take part in a pub quiz, though it was technically in a parish hall — I hope that counts!
DeleteSome years ago on Twitter I remember a lively discussion of the question: 'Could you survive a night in your local pub if you had to fight the thing it was named after?'. Lots of bravado from patrons of the Mallard or the Lamb & Flag, but less from those of the Duke of Wellington, the George & Dragon or, indeed, the Sun.
Well, my local is called The Old Punch Bowl. I'm fairly confident of my chances...unless "fight" means "resist temptation"!
DeleteWhat kind of 'punch' does that involve, though?!
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